Category Archives for Strategy

It’s coming up to the end of our first year of trading and so lots of talking, thinking and analysing of data has been going on (together with much tea drinking/cake eating).

Figures are all well and good, however I’ve found it much easier to use some very simple infographics to make some of the data easier to understand. The infographic below, for example, shows what projects we’ve worked on in our first year. You can see instantly that workshops have been our main focus, however there’s been lots of other work going on too! The infographics I’ve created have genuinely helped me with this important review and strategic planning process.

Infographics can be as simple or as complicated as you wish, from a simple word cloud, to a complex graphic. I ended up creating mine using simple drawing software, however IBM’s free set of data visualisation tools, Many Eyes, is a great place to start creating your own!

Becta. The Harnessing Technology grant. Building Schools for the Future. The once-familiar landmarks of the English educational technology landscape are disappearing or gone. The indications are that they are being followed by City Learning Centres. These CLCs, set up around a decade ago to both provide facilities for local businesses and serve as beacons of innovation and excellence to the schools in a locality, are being closed down, threatened with closure, or reduced in staffing and funding. The question is, though: should we mourn?

While many (possibly all) CLCs have carried out excellent work, there is a case for saying that they are becoming increasingly irrelevant, if not inappropriate. Despite the recent cuts in educational budgets, the facts remain that over the last 14 years we have enjoyed an unprecedented investment in educational ICT, at the same time as advances in technology and falling prices have enabled all schools to have acquired a quantity and variety of ‘kit’ which not that long ago would have seemed as likely as finding Shangri La.

During this period there has been a change in perceptions, not unconnected with the developments described above, about the desirability or otherwise of there being a computer lab in schools. The prevailing majority view these days is that the technology needs to be where students want to use it, rendering the concept of a computer room redundant. (I’m not saying I wholeheartedly agree with this view; I am merely reporting its existence.)

All this being the case, is it not a rather archaic practice to have children visit an outside location in order to see and take part in exciting ICT work? If taking a class along a corridor to a computer room is no longer acceptable, how can taking them outside the school completely even be considered?

I have a more philosophical objection to CLCs. They were created in order that schools could see new technology, and do exciting things with it. The phrase often heard was “cutting edge”. Apart from the fact that I, personally, saw almost nothing that I would describe as truly remarkable, surely this is a clear case of the technology tail wagging the pedagogy dog? What makes something exciting is how it is used to solve a problem. Doing something like, say, making and editing digital videos is, in itself pointless. There needs to be a reason for doing so. Besides, the actual technology skills involved in such activities are largely irrelevant anyway: it’s the development of ‘soft’ skills like co-operating with other people through different roles — like scriptwriter, camera person, editor — that matters more, surely?

You could argue that the point about playing around with new kit is that you don’t know what kind of problems you could solve with it until you’ve experimented with it. You might suggest that we may not even think of these problems until we’ve explored the technology. You’d be right. But surely the answer – or at least a better answer – would have been to have given the money to schools in the form of an innovation fund? When I headed up a large team in a Local Authority I set aside around £1000 a year for ‘innovation’. This was nearly ten years ago, so that was an even more substantial amount of money than it sounds.

We used this money to try out new-fangled devices like visualisers (document cameras), tablet computers, mobile devices, student response systems and other exciting stuff. Sometimes, of course, we acquired evaluation versions, which saved us money, but the money was there if we needed it. The innovation fund idea was definitely a good one, because it enabled us to experiment and then – and this is the critical bit I think – advise colleagues on (a) whether the kit was worth investing in and (b), if so, what they could do with it. We were able to demonstrate the equipment and even use it for real purposes, such as when we wheeled out the student response system for senior management meetings.

Having an innovation fund, together with an enlightened approach by my bosses which meant that failure, ie buying something which turned out to be useless, was very much an option, proved pivotal to our success as a team. We were able to discuss what kit to buy, and then try it out and discuss it when convenient to ourselves. Had we have been obliged to book a slot in a room belonging to an external organisation in order to try out equipment which we had no or little say in purchasing, I daresay we wouldn’t have done so. Apart from anything else, there simply would not have been the time.

There are problems with giving people the brief of doing something ‘cutting edge’ without also imposing on them the obligation to answer that most dreaded of questions: ‘so what?’. I saw some pretty mundane stuff at one particular CLC, but because the person in charge did not feel an obligation to assess its impact on learning and achievement it went largely unchallenged.

Also, some pretty silly buildings were constructed, the kind designed by architects out to win design awards rather than provide a working educational environment. And the waste! When you give people the task of spending a sack-full of money on software, spend it they will – regardless of whether something even better could have been acquired through Open Source means.

Equality of access is another issue. Where CLCs were built next to or as part of an existing school, as often as not that school would either be given, or would assume, greater rights of access than other schools. That meant they could take up valuable time and resources using the CLC as, in effect, an extra classroom, while a school down the road would have been delighted to have had more opportunities to do real cutting edge stuff.

So what is the future of CLCs, and what might we hope for? There’s no doubt that many CLCs have excellent staff who have developed brilliant practices, expertise and resources over the years. It would be unfortunate to lose all this if losing it is unnecessary. A great idea would be to implement the solution adopted by one Local Authority I am familiar with, that of creating a virtual CLC. This dispenses with the need for a dedicated building. Instead, the CLC staff are based in different schools on a rotational basis. They work with pupils and teachers in the schools, taking the relevant kit with them. That requires a discussion about aims and problems to be solved, and assessment, and involves no loss of teaching time taken up travelling to and from an external centre. There are no extra facilities or building costs, only the staffing costs (which, admittedly, are often substantial).

Clearly, such a solution is not without its challenges, not the least of which is moving equipment around and setting up shop in a new environment every year. But it has the merits of not only addressing many of the drawbacks of CLCs as we have come to know them, but of retaining the staff and, crucially, keeping alive the main underlying reason for having CLCs in the first place, that of encouraging innovation.

It’s been over one full ‘term’ since I have been working for myself, both as a freelance trainer, and primarily on on my social enterprise project DoDigital, which aims to promote creative use of technology in education, and to a lesser extent, business.

It’s been a rollercoaster of a few months and a few people have asked me for advice if they were to do something similar, so I thought I would share some of what I have learnt so far!

Freedom is a wonderful thing…once you get used to it!

At first rather predictably perhaps although I loved not having my time ruled by bells and relentless structure, I found the ‘do what-ever you want, whenever you want to’ structure I had a little overwhelming. As usual, a step-by-step approach helped, as did the advice in Peter Jones’ book about writing a 100 day action plan – it’s easy to do once you get going!

The real deal is very different from the theory!

I taught Business Studies for over 4 years; however, actually running a business is very, very different! I may have known business theories inside out, but I found that once I had actually become one of those entrepreneurs that I used to talk about in classrooms, much of the theory was almost irrelevant.

That’s why I found this article by Richard Branson so interesting and hope that he will have some influence over government educational policy! Indeed, the government has announced today that it will be re-introducing the ‘enterprise allowance’ grant to encourage people to start small businesses. Too late for me, but great for those who want to start a business as it will provide some income in those months before the business takes off (that kept me awake !).

Meetings can waste your very valuable time!

We all know this, but in my new role I initially thought I needed lots of help and guidance (I did need quite a bit!). Subsequently, I filled my first month or so with a lot of meetings with business advisors who were sometimes helpful, often not, speaking to lots of people about my business plan and reading lots (although I had spent virtually the previous 8 months reading about starting up a business). I found some advice inaccurate and conflicting, particularly around setting up a social enterprise – this is a real shame, as it’s quite straight-forward really!

Find great resources & stick with them!

Business Link will put you in touch with a local provider of business support (it took me a couple of follow-up calls to get one). Their website and helpline can help with answering the masses of little questions that come up when trying to set up a company, although I did find the masses of information on the website a little over-whelming at times! The government are making changes to Business Link, but they have promised to keep the free advice provision and update the website.

HMRC courses are also excellent, and provide free, highly useful and accurate information about the financial aspects of starting a business (a top tip from Duncan Bannatyne’s book!) and The British Library is a fabulous source of support for Entrepreneurs. Having read masses of books / blogs on the subject, there is a list of those I found most useful at the end of this post.

So, if you do want to set up your company, do take up some of the free advice you’re offered, however, ask people who have recently, been through the process and can relate to your idea (I’m happy to help if I can!).

Just Do It!

The final, and most important thing I have learnt is, rather obviously, that you really have to just get on with it! As Alan Sugar discusses in this post, it’s all down to you! Here are some quotes which epitomise the first few months in business for me (all courtesy of @greatestquotes).

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh

“Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.” – Henry Ford

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

“Take a deep breath, count to ten, and tackle each task one step at a time.” – Linda Shalaway

It’s that time of year again: most of my friends are back at school (as teachers!) and much of the chat on Twitter is about meeting new classes.

However, this year I won’t be going back to school and for the first time ever on Thursday, my son went to school and I didn’t.

I am no longer officially a teacher, although I think I will always be a teacher.

I am still incredibly passionate about education and I loved working with teenagers, especially those that have to deal with more than most. I almost cannot comprehend that, for the moment, I will not be doing that job.

I am already doing some ICT consultancy and training for a number of companies, and am currently working on launching my own venture which will aim to help educators use engaging and innovative technology in their classrooms and organisations.

Running my own business has been something I have wanted to do for years, especially during my time as a Business & Economics teacher. Getting to this point has been a very steep learning curve and I have been devouring more books and online resources in the past 6 months than I have since my teaching degree.

As with teaching, I suspect that it won’t be until I am actually doing it that I really learn what it’s all about. It’s extremely exciting, although rather daunting after the safe confines of the teaching profession. Many of my former colleagues and friends think I am nuts and I am very grateful to the smaller number who share my ‘carpe diem’ attitude and have been so supportive. I look forward to sharing more details about the company soon.

Meanwhile, all the best to those of you starting a new term. I absolutely know the energy and dedication it takes to do the job that is never finished.

CC image This Way Please by Cedro

Can it really be over 2 weeks since the Google Teacher Academy in London? Yes, it is and it’s probably taken this long for the dust to settle and for my brain to digest what was a very intense and totally immense day. I have never known CPD like it and it was a real honour to be there, particularly delivering my session as a lead learner on Google Docs.

I must admit presenting to some of the UK’s most innovative teachers was almost as scary as my old Year 11 class on a Friday afternoon (but with fewer piercings), however my fellow delegates were very gentle with me and we even managed to come up with our own Doodle for Google logo (however, I don’t think it will be featuring on the homepage anytime soon!).

I ended up racing through much of the content, so do feel free to have a look at the presentation and the associated resources on the GTA resource site (I have been looking at lots of the other resources over the past week and finding lots of v. cool stuff!). There are some great classroom examples generously given by fellow teachers. The great thing is that all the resources are available to anyone – a great learning reference!

The relentless pace of the day meant there was so much to take in (including the v. cool Google offices). Every session had directly applicable value and it is those with the most classroom application that have been popping back into my head over the past couple of weeks. So here’s a quick run-down of my highlights:

Tom Barratt’s literacy maps are simply amazing for any pupils, but especially reluctant writers – I know my son would love to take part in a map story! Creating .kmz files in Google Earth of our favourite places in the world (Formby beach for me!) in Doug Belshaw’s session was also, not only fun, but immediately and obviously applicable to numerous creative activities within the classroom.

Lisa Thurman’s ‘Search’ demonstration of the fantastic wonderwheel, google squared and customised searces have been talked about at length in various blog posts – very simple and incredibly effective tools which we simply did not know about before! I have had several meetings this week and have been showing anyone who will listen the Wonder Wheel – particularly helpful for students who are visual learners or those with dyslexia.

For my own studies, Mark Wagner’s session on Killer Reseach Tools was another eye-opener – having my own personal, searchable online reference library will be a real plus for my continued MA studies and this could be a fantastic facility for teachers to share recommended reading with students.

I have also set up my Google Calendar to send me SMS alerts, thanks, not only to Danny Silva’s ideas on the day, but to Jesstern Ray’s super simple guide in his blog . Indeed it is this continued input from both people who attended on the day and those who followed online which, I think, will be the legacy of GTAUK and there has already been much collaboration and ideas-spreading.

It may be that many of us who attended are unable to implement the full Google Apps suite in our schools, for a variety of reasons. However, we do all, of course, have the ability to influence classroom practice and spread the word about some of the excellent, and let’s not forget, free, tools available to teachers. In times of budget constaints and ICT bashing (see last week’s TES / any comment from Mr Gove), it is this combination of innovation and minimal cost that should be of great attraction to so many schools. Indeed, in the TES this week, a Headteacher writes; “many staff only know about Microsoft Products, so we need to learn about [free] alternatives”. Google’s tools are amongst the thankfully increasing number of tools available to schools that are free, innovative and very easy to use once you know how.

It’s reaching out beyond the twitterati and getting the message to the masses that will take some creativity and determination to do. So getting out there and sharing our knowledge is important. I know some of the tools will be being showcased at TeachMeets (including TMX!) over the next few months and I hope all of us will be sharing as much knowledge as we can with as many teachers, and students, as we can.

There may, at the moment, be few schools in the UK which are in the awe-inspiring position described by Kern Kelley in his presentation in which Google Apps and technology is so well integrated into his school – giving students their own domain name as a leaving present which they can use to showcase their own portfolio of work is one such example and truly a 21stC idea reflective of the open and innovative culture. However, there are many of us, including those of us who went to GTAUK, who share that vision for education and students in the UK – we just need to convince others to come along for the (free) ride!

Last night’s TeachMeetBlackpool was tremendous (& not just because of the TeachMeet rock!) It was really great to meet up with some of the people I’ve spoken to on twitter face to face and there were some really inspired and inspiring presentations from great practical examples, like using flip cameras, twitter and cover-it-live in the classroom to improve literacy and to Nicola Staple’s interactive and highly enjoyable music terminology session.

I also really enjoyed the ‘global’ presentations, with Jan Webb, Jack Sloan and John Sutton all sharing how they have used web 2.0 applications to connect their students both to each other and on a global scale – really inspirational stuff!

Connecting students and teachers was a recurring theme of the evening and what particularly stood out for me as the large number of attendees from the local community – Tom and James did a great job of taking TeachMeet beyond the twitterati. The final presentation of the night from Chris and Nigel at Palatine secondary school where they discussed how they have used futurelab’s learning spaces (or as they call them learning bases) to revolutionise the transition experience for pupils in the area was very thought-provoking. Their warm and sincere invitation for attendees to go and visit their school was indicative of the positive local links that were most certainly built throughout the night.

Things are certainly looking bright for the teachers and pupils of Blackpool (& beyond)!

Here’s the much talked about Colin with his guide to chroma key with Movie Maker!

I am particularly passionate about the ability ICT has to encourage creativity and independent thinking in students, the latter being such a bug-bear of teachers far and wide, and so I thought I would share some of the projects I have introduced over the past year to try to develop not only students’ ICT skills, but their creativity, logical & critical thought and independent learning.

I try to use free software when I can and if it supports the learning objectives. For example, using Google Sketchup to introduce CAD and 3D modelling was an idea I stole from the marvellous Mr Clarkson and my Year 9 students have been making eco-houses this term in an adaptation of Mark’s Grand Design’s project.

I have discussed Scratch and Alice at length before and, together with Gamemaker they engage students like no other software I have taught, as they create animations and games, totally oblivious to the fact that they are learning programming skills along the way. Students are currently playing with Kodu in the computer club, having ordered a few X-Box controllers and one student has requested that Python be downloaded so he can experiment with that – great independent learning!

The advantages of using free tools of course is that students can download them at home and play around with them there. I have been both delighted and surprised when some students have brought the work they have completed at home in (and had to give them serious extension work as they have finished their entire project in one week!) I was particularly thrilled this week when a Year 7 boy was completing his History homework on Sketchup (a roman fort) because he’d seen his brother in Year 9 completing his ICT project on it at home.

And of course, the fact that these tools can be used in other subjects is the great appeal – in ICT I try whenever I can to use tools that students can and will be using in other areas. For example, using Google Earth in our movie about the Year 7 trip and creating scientific graphs in Excel, rather than the usual explosion of colour will hopefully be of great help further up the school in Science and Maths. Using Audacity to record podcasts means they can use the software in other subjects, and of course the logical thinking required in any kind of programming is good for Maths and life in general!

In this respect, creative subjects such as Art and, in particular Graphics, are natural companions of ICT and, as web design and animation are both passions of mine, inevitably I manage to sneak a good bit of both of these into the curriculum. Ideally, students build on their existing skills and learn new ones with each project. For example, my Year 9s started off the year creating stop-frame animation, we then moved on to Flash and then Alice, so by Christmas, they had tried animating in 3 different ways. It was really great when they arrived for their assessment lesson complete with props and original ideas and began working confidently and totally independently on their animations using the most appropriate software for their idea – a real success in itself, notwithstanding the fact that some of their completed animations were excellent.

So, while I know I have been lucky to have such flexibility with the curriculum, I do believe that with a little imagination and a good look round on the web to see what others are doing, you can enliven the KS3 curriculum and make it engaging, relevant, challenging and exciting for students, encouraging them to have the confidence in their own creativity and learn independently.

Creating a dynamic scheme of work at KS3 is the aim of the DADSOW3 conference in June – updates will appear at ictcurric.org.uk and on twitter #ictcurric

I was introduced to yet another inspirational Ted talk by @courosa. In the talk, shown below, Daniel Siegel really got me thinking about how we use our brains, particularly in the classroom with students.

He discusses his belief that the brain is a social organ and that we should be ensuring we teach students resilience, relationships and reflection, to which the brain is highly receptive, in addition the the more common 3 ‘R’s. In reality, I think many of us do incorporate this into our teaching, although there is certainly scope for it to be higher up the agenda in some schools.

He concurs with Sir Ken Robinson’s beliefs surrounding creativity and allowing students to expore ideas for themselves and find their passion, although Siegel goes further to say that relationships, building a community and sharing information should be at the heart of any school and educational policy – something which I have yet to hear discussed in the current round of wrangling before the general election. Siegal believes that by putting such elements at the heart of schools, students become attuned to themselves and committed and responsive to others.

Throughout the talk, in my usual impatient way, I wanted Siegel to tell us how rather than why and thankfully he does so near the end. The yes and no exercise (at @ 21 mins) is excellent in its simplicity and serves as a reminder of how we, as teachers, can encourage receptivity rather than reactivity and that teaching compassion is perhaps best served by showing compassion ourselves – not an educational revolution but a step in the right direction.

Having submitted my latest Masters’ assignment this morning, I’m allowing myself to start thinking about BETT2010 now and finding myself rather more excited than in previous years.

I hope BETT itself will hopefully be interesting and informative; I’m certainly looking forward to visiting some of the stands and workshops (I’ll be making a bee-line for the playful learning and the Open Source Schools areas), and I would really have liked to have seen some of the seminars, not least Ollie Bray’s Computer Games Based learning seminar on Thursday.

However, for me it’s the ‘extra’ events that are actually the main attractions this year. I’m really quite excited about what’s going to happen at Tedx Orenda, Amplified and TeachMeet BETT in the next three days and it will probably take me a year to work my way though all the excellent ideas that come out of these meetings. Although I won’t be able to be there in person, I look forward to catching up on online.

One event I’m thrilled to be a part of is the TeachMeet-Takeover and despite being rather nervous about my slot on Friday, I’m looking forward to listening to the other talks and catching up with lots of people – do make sure you say hello!